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Abstract
The taxonomy of the glabrous‐leaved plants ascribed to Pimelea prostrata and P. urvilliana (here each regarded as members of a species complex) is examined. The entities that were originally classed under the names prostrata and urvilliana are identified and the species typified and described.
The Pimelea prostrata complex consists of three species: P. prostrata (with four additional new subspecies); and the new species Pimelea orthia (two subspecies) and Pimelea xenica, each from scattered locations in the northern half of the North Island. Pimelea prostrata subsp. prostrata occurs in scattered places in the southern half of the North Island and very widely in the South Island. The other infraspecific units in P. prostrata, each distributed regionally, are subspecies seismica, vulcanica, thermalis, andventosa. Pimelea orthia subsp. orthia is an inland to near coastal plant whereas subsp. protea lives only on coastal dunes.
The Pimelea urvilliana complex consists of six species: P. urvilliana subspecies urvilliana (now only in the Auckland region), with one new subspecies, nesica (on islands east of Auckland and Coromandel); the new species Pimelea carnosa (coastal sites in North and South Islands); Pimelea sporadica (four widely spread sites in the northern half of the North Island); Pimelea eremitica (from a single North Auckland location); and two species described in an earlier paper, Pimelea actea (from the Manawatu‐Wanganui coast) and Pimelea telura (Three Kings Islands)
Some of the subspecies of P. prostrata are relatively common as is P. urvilliana subsp. nesica and, locally, P. carnosa. None of the other taxa covered here is abundant. Pimelea urvilliana subsp. urvilliana is particularly scarce and may be extinct on the New Zealand mainland.
Live populations and herbarium specimens include individuals with mixed characters indicating that some taxa cross freely with one another if the opportunity arises. Hybridisation occurs between some members of the P. prostrata complex. Hybrids are also found between some members of the P. urvilliana complex. Also, certain members of each of these two groups hybridise with one another. Overall, the crossing has generated a high degree of variability in some field populations ("hybrid swarms” and far‐reaching introgression) especially among coastal plants. The complex character assortments in some of these populations are recorded, using scatter diagrams and pictographs.
A key for identification of all glabrous‐leaved Pimelea taxa in New Zealand includes those in the Pimelea gnidia group of species as well as the P. prostrata and P. urvilliana species complexes. Hybrids are not covered in the key, but information to assist in their identification appears in the text.
